Ex-husband rebuts abuse allegations on YouTube

The ex-husband of a Nova Scotia woman who tried to hire a hit man to kill him has uploaded a video on YouTube to tell his side of the story.

Michael Ryan says his former wife, Nicole Ryan, has made him out to be “a monster” who terrorized and abused her. He says the courts have never given him the chance to refute those claims.

“I wasn’t called to testify, and I thought that somebody reviewing the evidence would eventually call me or something but it never happened,” he said Monday evening from his home in Angus, Ont.

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Nicole Ryan’s defence and overturned her acquittal on a charge of counselling to commit murder but then stayed the charge. That means she is free and can’t be retried on the charge.

Although the court rejected a defence of duress, it described Ryan’s husband as “violent, abusive and controlling.”

Michael Ryan said he is shocked at the verdict of Canada’s top court.

“I can’t believe the court’s decision, considering the evidence that is out there,” he said.

“I was really hoping for a new trial and I thought that was the way it was going but it didn’t happen.”

In the video, filmed at his home, Ryan says he never abused Nicole, and that the courts, by not properly examining the evidence, have “tarnished the reputations of not only myself but the RCMP as well.”

“The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to avoid another trial, which would have ultimately included the testimonies of both the RCMP and I, into Nicole Ryan’s allegations, is a farce and a disgrace to our Canadian judicial system.

“Nicole Ryan’s allegations that I sexually, physically and mentally abused her left a dark cloud over my name and my family. She has painted me out to be a monster who abused her and our daughter.”

Michael Ryan said he moved to Ontario in 2009 due to a military posting. He said a family court judge in Kentville awarded him sole custody of their daughter Aimee, now 12, after the judge ordered a psychological assessment of the whole family. He said his ex-wife didn’t contest the custody application.

“I’m sure that (Michael Ryan) is now on the offensive but there is a lot he will not say.”

For now, Nicole Ryan is interested in pursuing visitation rights with her daughter, Pink said.

Michael Ryan said he has never tried to prevent his ex-wife from contacting their daughter.

“This is why I am so up about getting my side of the story out because it is one big lie, and she is throwing my daughter in the forefront of this, as if I took my daughter from her and kidnapped her out of the province.

“This is all over the country in the newspapers.”

Ryan said that when he moved to Ontario in February 2010, he sent his ex-wife’s lawyer at the time a letter giving his forwarding address.